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Arrest of alleged Mafia members
Photo: Guardia di Finanza
Investigators have arrested more than 30 alleged Mafia members during raids on the Italian Mediterranean island of Sicily.
As the public prosecutor in Messina announced, the men and women are accused of extortion, kidnapping, assault and illegal drug trafficking, among other things.
Among the suspects, most of whom were imprisoned or under house arrest, is a gang boss who had been in prison for 13 years.
After his release, according to the investigators, he should have fully re-entered the criminal networks.
10,000 euros for a post as a local politician
In addition, a local politician was arrested.
He is accused of having paid the mafia around 10,000 euros so that the clan would get him votes in an election.
The candidate was not chosen in the vote in 2018, it said.
Some of the acts are said to have been controlled from a bar in the port city of Messina in northeast Sicily, as reported by several Italian media.
1.3 tons of cocaine
The authorities in Italy regularly take major actions against Mafia organizations.
Investigators recently hit the mafia in Calabria, southern Italy.
In the port of the southern Italian city of Gioia Tauro, they discovered a total of 1.3 tons of cocaine in three containers.
The market value of the drug imported from South America was probably more than 260 million euros.
The mafia organization 'Ndrangheta, one of the most powerful groups in the international drug trade, is believed to be behind the illegal importation.
lmd / dpa